Confessions of a Porsche 911 Addict

You know who you are, 911 addicts. You can't help it.  You've had an obsession with them for as long as you can remember: mine started around age 16.  If you own one its that thrill that jumps up from the bottom of your stomach through your heart when you punch it on the highway.  Or the growling German engine when you start it up.  And the way it feels when you slide into the hand-stitched leather wrap-around seats.  It's a lot of things.  Admit it, you've thought about going to sleep in it, and after you've washed and waxed it you've at least once leaned face down on the trunk and tried to put your arms around it and whispered "Have I told you lately that I love you?"  Oh, is this a car we're talking about?  Yes, and your spouse thinks this is all extremely funny and chuckles at you.  

When you're traveling for work in that tinny rental car you really miss your own, don't you?  At your workplace, if your office or division director is evil and insecure, he's secretly enraged with jealousy of your ride.  And you don't even remember his name when you're out moving gears on the open road.    

PorscheLover.com is obsessed and totally gets it-- please keep posting those awesome photographs.  That 1960s advertisement with the man and woman getting affectionate against that orange 912 is classic. Will that car make you sexy?  I can't say.  Is that car sexy?  Hell yes.  I hope that 912 belonged to the woman in the photograph, by the way. 

I'm obsessed with Porsche design and engineering too, which never ceases to surprise.  Since I bought my 911, I keep discovering features it has that I hadn't come across in my research prior to purchasing it.  If I had read about them I hadn't retained.  Things like the way the mirrors automatically sense the incident light around you and switch themselves to nighttime driving view that features a greenish tint.  Or how the ignition switch knows which of the two keys for the car are in proximity.  Or on gradients greater than 5 percent a drive-off assistant kicks in when you're putting it into 1st gear or reverse.   Or the at-first-quirky but then oh-yeah-it's-logical way you program the navigation computer, European style:  state, town, street, and then house number. 

The first time I ever drove a 911, back in 2010, I knew I was hooked.  My husband knew I was too and said he could see it on my face.  Once you've done it, there is no going back.  Don't try to fight the addiction because you can't.  

Spied: McLaren 650S and Audi R8

I was in the middle of my commute from work to home last week and spied a number of McLaren 650Ss and an Audi R8 at the Bentley dealership.  You don't see that many McLarens around, so those stood out.   The R8 does too, although these cars are a bit more common than the McLaren.  I was helplessly drawn over to look at them.  It was raining, so nobody else was out on the lot except for high performance auto fanatics who can't resist great design and won't let a little foul weather curb their enthusiasm.  There were a few other McLarens on the lot, but I snapped this 650S in black:

 

McLarens are made in England and are a street car spin off of Formula 1 technology.  The 650S was revealed only this year.  Like its other high-end brand cousins, the 650S is a supercar, a trend that seems to be growing and looking like it will continue in the near future.  The 650S has a unique carbon-fiber composite chassis, a 3.8-litre V8 twin-turbo engine, sporting 500 ft-lbs of torque. It can reach a speed of up to 207 mph.

Not to be outdone, Audi came out with the R8 in 2008.  Here's the one I spied, also in black:

I wasn't certain about exactly what year this R8 pictured here is, so won't comment about this one in particular.  But in general, the R8 comes in your choice of a V8 or V10, and like the Porsche 911 is a two seater, although the Audi is a mid-engine.  The 2014 has a big 4.2-liter V8-- located behind the passenger seats- that gives 430 HP and 317 ft-lbs of torque.  It comes with a new Audi automated manual transmission, but you can get it with a traditional manual transmission if that's what you want.  When I checked it out I was taken with the louvered back design shown above.  It's sleek and cool.  The inside is beautiful too.  I didn't get any pictures of the interior of this one but you can see that and lots more at http://www.audiusa.com/models/audi-r8. 

A Two-Wheeled Porsche

I was at my Porsche service department yesterday dropping off my car for an end-to-end inspection before its warranty expires.  They pointed out a Starbucks coffee machine in the lounge in their showroom, in case I was inclined.  I was, and wandered over to the lounge, which is actually a mini Porsche Design store.  In case you haven't heard of this you can see what I mean here.  Porsche Design does have some beautiful items and it kind of reminds me of the Tom Ford shop on New York's Upper East Side, but with other items besides clothing.  So I got my coffee and turned around, and in front of me is a Porsche bicycle:

Yes, a Porsche bicycle.  I had no idea.  It caught my eye and it turns out Porsche makes a small number of bikes, both for off road and for more urban environments.  Like most other things made by or licensed by Porsche, they're pricey, starting around $3600.00 in the US.  Then again Yeti bikes start at about that range too.  No doubt Porsche bikes are high performance if you're into cycling.  For now I'm content with my Specialized guy's mountain bike and spend more time in my 911 than on my bike anyway.  The car checked out ok today too. 

Lamborghini Rocks the Paris Motor Show

Lamborghini has joined the ranks high performance auto manufacturers who are turning out hybrid supercars.  And apparently they stole the Paris Motor Show.  There is a good write up and video on Bloomberg about the new Lamborghini Asterion. 910 HP, V10.  Also more information about the Asterion at The Truth About Cars.

Autoweek Review of the 2014 911 Carrera Turbo S

Autoweek liked the 2014 911 Carrera Turbo S, and published a good review of that beast today, following a track session at the Michigan International Speedway.